The Rite of Blasphemyby Fra. ImpecuniousThe following ritual is a modern black mass against the slave gods of high finance, designed to liberate the magician from the mind-forged manacles of consumerism.

+ MaterialsA credit card (preferably one’s own), a financial document (such as a bank statement or bill), a cigarette, matches and ashtray, white spirit, a glass of water and a tape recorder (optional).

+ PreparationRip up the document and place in the ashtray in the West (the home of Capitalism). Place the credit card atop this pyre. Ordinary clothes should be worn for this rite, and no fasting, bathing or other purification prior to commencing is necessary.

+ Procedure1. Banish by any desired method.

2. Sit in the thunderbolt posture facing the ‘altar’. Meditate on the fire centre (slightly below the navel in most systems) while cultivating a warlike and destructive attitude. Music may be played at this point especially if it deals with consumerism in a suitably aggressive manner (e.g. "The Great Deceiver" by King Crimson or Pink Floyd’s "Money").

3. Take the white spirit bottle, pass your hand over it and say: "This I consecrate, the spirit that burns away all impurities." Pour some of the spirit into the ashtray. Taking up the cigarette, say: "This I consecrate, the wand whose sacred fire consumes itself."

4. Light the cigarette and inhale deeply three times. Set fire to the contents of the ashtray. Adopt a comfortable position and contemplate the ensuing destruction whilst smoking the remainder of the cigarette. Aim for a progression of emotions from hatred and loathing, through disdain to a calm detachment, in the manner of a tantric graveyard meditation.

5. Have a glass of water to cool your throat from the noxious fumes you have inhaled.

6. Banish as before.

+ NoteHere, cigarette = wand, ashtray = pentacle and thurible &glass = chalice. This rite demonstrates how one can improvise a rite under any circumstances with the minimum of fuss. Also it helps one regard magical instruments according to their function rather than their physical appearance.

This ritual appeared in The Lamp Of Thoth magazine, Vol. III, No.4, 1984